I find that when asking questions about personal experience this is a good opportunity to get those students involved. They will feel more inclined to be involved as there is not a right or wrong answer.
That's a good idea since I too have a lot of lab time in my classes.
is very important since you get class discussions going, participation and the most important: input from all students, all students have an opinion and all should be heard.
Hi Vanessa- Thanks for your post to the forum. Your questioning technique certainly encourages participation! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan,
You can assign each student a question to give the answer in their own words, Then ask if other student may have any input...From experience that has always been fun. Because not only are you being prepare for lets say a test, but then if you missed out on any important key point, not only is there instructor there to help you but the entire class.
HI Ben - Thanks for your post to the forum. Your idea of "question cards" is excellent! Most students want to be able to prepare in advance of any assessment. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Ben I like the question cards idea next time I am over at the campus could I see a sample I might put that to use in CF III. Thanks for the great idea.
One strategy is to create question cards that you can hand out prior to lecture so that each student ends up participating in the discussion. Knowing the question ahead of time can lower the stress of being called at random. It also allows the student time to compose their answer.
I often find that directing questions to the entire class keeps everyone involved, students dont have be anxious about being called upon and not knowing the answer.
Hi John - Yes, so much of what we do depends on gaining our students confidence and making them feel comfortable in our classrooms. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I try to encourage discussion from the first minute the enter my classroom. On day one I try to get them to interact through the use of clever ice-breakers and other ways so that when I do call on them they do not feel uncomfortable.
J. Cipriano
I like to start with easier questions and pick people out and then as we examine that question i pick out others to expand and then dialoque starts as we go into Demo.
Good questioning techniques, Wendy! Best wishes - Susan
one way to engage non responsive students is to reassure the students that all questions relevent to the subject are acceptable- meaning, there is no such thing as a stupid question.
If none of the students are asking questions, you could dig into your bag of pivotal questions or restate a previous question in a different way that might make some of the students think about the answer in a different way. If a student has given a partial answer to a question, first, give the student positive reinforcement for answering, and ask if anyone can elaborate a little bit further.
I like to use online class discussions as a guide. For example, with online classes everyone has to participate. When doing this with a class that actually meets everyone has to join in and they are aware of this ahead of time.
I tend to call on them directly and ask them a a simple question I know they will be able to answer. Sometimes this gives them the confidence to become mor involved in discussion.
A good strategy would be to name the person first before asking the question so that he/she knows that the question is addressed to them to get their full attention to the question.
HI Debbie- Thanks for your post to the forum. Yes, once our students feel comfortable, they are so much more likely to participate. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
When I notice that a student is not really participating I will first ask them a relatively easy question to give them the confidence to participate more
I ask my questions to the whole class and insist that the students raise their hand instead of shouting out the answer, this way I get a visual queue as to who is participating and I can gauge just how much a student's confidence in their answer is. Giving the students all the same opportunity to answer the question also helps getting more than just the one student who answers a chance to participate in the discussion and by asking follow up questions I can get more of the students a sounding board. If all the students hands go up after the follow up questions I'll ask for thoughts and open up the floor for discussion.
